Bunker prices have taken mixed directions across European and African bunkering ports in the past day, and St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga continue to price VLSFO well below Rotterdam and other ports.
Changes on the day to 08.00 GMT today:
- VLSFO prices steady in Gibraltar, and down in Durban ($3/mt) and Rotterdam ($6/mt)
- LSMGO prices up in Durban ($14/mt), Rotterdam ($1/mt), and down in Gibraltar ($1/mt)
- HSFO prices up in Gibraltar ($2/mt), and down in Rotterdam ($3/mt)
A price drop for Rotterdam’s VLSFO in the past day has lowered its price against Hamburg and Gibraltar. Skaw and Gothenburg’s prices remain roughly in line with Rotterdam’s.
St. Petersburg and Ust-Luga continue to price VLSFO at wide discounts to ARA ports, and currently have the world’s lowest levels for the most popular fuel grade. St. Petersburg has the grade $35/mt lower than Rotterdam.
HSFO380 is tight for prompt delivery dates in Skaw, mostly because relatively low demand does not incentivise suppliers to allocate more barge tank space to the grade. Skaw’s premium over Rotterdam has gone up to $32/mt today.
High winds are forecast to hit the Gibraltar Strait ports from the west from tonight until tomorrow morning and could disrupt deliveries. There is no congestion in the port’s this morning, but two suppliers remain 2-5 hours behind in their bunkering schedules, port agent MH Bland says.
Winds bordering on gale-strength and swell of around 3 metres is forecast in Port Elizabeth tomorrow. Shipping agent Sturrock Grindrod has warned this bout of rough weather could suspend deliveries, as it has on several occasions in recent weeks.
Port Elizabeth’s VLSFO price remains around $40/mt higher than in other South African ports including Durban.
Durban’s LSMGO price has jumped in the past day, to narrow its discount to Port Elizabeth from $19/mt to $8/mt.
Brent
Front-month ICE Brent has dropped by $0.60/bbl on the day to 08.00 GMT today, when it stood at $71.95/bbl.
A stronger US dollar and signs of weakening oil demand in the US and China put downward pressure on the futures contract yesterday.
“Investors in the US came back from an extended weekend with a more pessimistic market view after digesting last week’s downbeat jobs numbers. The US labor department reported a paltry 235k jobs added for August,” DailyFX analyst Thomas Westwater said.
Brent has regained some of yesterday’s losses today on the back of persistent offline crude oil production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico after Hurricane Ida made landfall on 29 August.
Some production has come back in the Gulf in the past day, bringing the offline share down from 84% to 79%, according to a tally from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. 14% of platforms and 36% of rigs remain unmanned after they were evacuated.
Investors await the US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) crude and oil products stocks report at 14.30 GMT today to gain a better understanding of how capped production has impacted supplies.